V I
Births On The Rise At DGH
By Emily Killette
^ Today about 50 percent of
births to county residents are
expected to be delivered at
Duplin General Hospital,
local doctors sav. Births at
DGH fell into the teens
during 1980, and only a total
of 38 babies were delivered
at the facility during their
1979 and 1980 fiscal years.
Births at DGH are
?xpected to reach about 250
lis year, said Ann Houston,
nursing director. During
recent years the hospital has
been making several changes
within the maternity unit.
Doctors and nursing staff
have initiated plans to in
volve the entire family in the
birth experience. Lamaze
classes are offered by the
Duplin Medical Association.
Tamaze gives the father an
Opportunity to help during
the delivery. New visitation
hours have been instru
mented to include the re
maining family members,
Houston explained. Sibling
visitation is 7-8 p.m. and
fathers have open hours 7
a.m. to 8 p.m., and general
visitation hours for friends
and non-immediate family
members are 2-4 p.m. and
O'S p-m. Rooming-in is
another part of the family
centeredness atmosphere.
Rooming-in allows the babies
to spend day hours in their
mothers' rooms.
# Dr. Griffith
"The hospital made a
large financial commitment
to the maternity ward when
Dr. Clark Hamner and I first
located a practice with
Duplin Medical Associa
tion," explained Dr. Steve
Griffith.. "The hospitaj
bought the fetal monitors
and the'nursing staff went
^irough changes to up-date
Wl the hospital's expense.
Now, I feel like we have all
the necessities and as the
hospital grows maybe we can
get some of the little extras."
Griffith has delivered about
150 babies since beginning
practice in Duplin County.
He is a member of a three
doctor team at the Medical
Association, all of whom take
mutual interests in the
A-nter's patients.
^"Duplin General Hospital
has been under-estimated
because of the lack of phy
sicians and specialists." Dr.
M.I. Ammar, Ob/Gny spe
cialist. said. "The hospital
has monitors, ultra-sound
and an efficient staff trained
to look after patients, but
until recently, there has been
no obstetricians or gyne
cologists to organize them.
Now, 1 think DGH is com
parable to any other county
hospital of its size; two sur
geons and one gynecologist
is about the standard. As
many as 95 percent of the
gynecology and obstetrics
patients can be treated in
Duplin now; only cases re
quiring specialists at univer
sity hospitals like Pitt Mem
morial or Chapel Hill need be
transferred from the
county."
Dr. Ammar
Ammar began practice in
Kenansville during mid-1982
and estimates he will be
delivering 12-15 babies this
June. Statistics show 567
births to Duplin residents
during 1980, with only 20
deliveries at DGH. Ammar
feels 50 percent of the 1983
births to Duplin residents
will be at DGH and within
another year, the remaining
deliveries will be in the
county facility. Presently,
Ammar is the only doctor
associated with Duplin
Ob/Gyn. Doctors Steve
Griffith. Doris Batts and
Karen Liebert are members
of the Duplin Medical Asso
ciation staff of family prac
titioners.
"Deciding to locate in
Duplin has been a chal
lenge," Dr. Griffith said. "I
wanted to go somewhere 1
4wiydd be a?le to deliver a lot
of babies. Ana, I knew when
1' came I would have the
opportunity to do things my
way instead of going to
another hospital and trying
to fit into their program.
Up-to-date facilities are im
portant to do obstetrics, and
Duplin GH has made a big
investment to provide that
care. Today, I feel DGH is as
safe for a normal birth as
hospitals like Chapel Hill or
Pitt Memorial." According
to Griffith, women who ex
perience no complications by
the middle of theif preg
nancy nave uu?,e 111*11 a
percent chance of a normal
delivery. Both Duplin
Medical Association and
Duplin Ob/Gyn Association
refer risk-patients to Pitt
Memorial Hospital if
specialists are available at
the facility.
"We have worked hard to
establish a safe and ac
ceptable OB service at
Duplin General Hospital,"
Griffith said. "I would like
for everyone in the county to
feel comfortable with our
services and feel able to use
them. Griffith hopes
mothers pleased with their
delivery at Duplin General
will return to the hospital for
other areas of medical treat
ment.
"Natural childbirth and
monitors are the biggest
changes in OB services at
Duplin General," director of
OB nursing. Bernice Herring
said. She has worked more
than 20 years in the DGH
maternity ward. "With
natural child birth, we don't
have sluggish babies: they
are alert and cry real loud.
Lamaze has given the
parents a different view of
childbirth." Herring expects
the summer months of 1983
to bring an increase of 10
births over the average of 20
deliveries last year.
"Our nursing staff has to
be very versatile," Nursing
Director Ann Houston said.
"The nurses spend part of
their time caring for mothers
and newborns, but they also
work in labor, delivery and
all other aspects of the OB
unit. In the larger hospitals,
nurses specialize in each of
the different jobs." The
maternity ward is staffed
each shift by one registered
nurse, one licensed practical
nurse, and one aide. Seven
full-time nurses, three part
time nurses and six aides
make up the entire nursing
staff for the OB unit.
Monitors and the ultra
sound machine add to the
updated care of the OB
services at DGH. doctors
say. The fetal monitors are
used for routine non-stress
tests and the ultra-sound
scans can be used to examine
body organs. The ultra
sound is used by obstetri
ciams because it" does not
harm unborn babies like an
X-ray can.
"OB patients can find out
numerous things with the
ultra-sound machine," DGH
ultra-sound stenographer
Sally Pope said. "We can tell
the babv's age within two
weeks and determine specific
problems like intererowth
retardation of beleeding. But
lately, doctors have used it
?"of# tr\ /Iptprminp fptal vitt
bility." The stenographer
explained the machine can
detect child formation as
k'
early as the fifth or sixth
week of pregnancy. Ultra
sound is used for photo
graphing body organs; bones
cannot be examined with the
machine. The ultra-sound
machine works by projecting
sound waves and recording
the reflected distance to form
a picture. Pope explained.
Births dropped from 169 in
1977 to 116 in 1978 and 20 in
1979. Today births are on the
rise with 139 in 1982 and 67
during the first four months
of the hospital's 1983 budget
year. The maternity ward at
uun nas never closed. Dr. \
Ada FisKor with the Green
overs Medical Center
delivered babies in the unit
after Dr. C.L. Quinn and Dr.
E.L. Boyette stopped accept
ing obstetrics patients in July
of 1978. Richard Harrell.
luspital administrator, said.
MATERNITY WARD AT DGH The nursing
staff of the Duplin General Hospital
maternity ward have updated their training
to work with new obstetrics equipment such
as the fetal monitors pictured above. In the
photo, OB staff LPN Anne Warren, left, and
OB nursing director Bernice Herring go over
a non-stress report made of an expectant
mother using the fetal monitor.
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